Series 6, Episode 3 | 1 part | First broadcast: 7 May 2011 | Writer: Stephen Thompson | Director: Jeremy Webb
Cast
- Matt Smith as the Doctor
- Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
- Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams
- Hugh Bonneville as Captain Henry Avery
Summary
The TARDIS materialises aboard a becalmed 17th-century pirate ship commanded by the notorious Captain Avery, whose crew are vanishing one by one after being marked with a mysterious black spot and lured to their doom by a spectral Siren. As Rory is critically injured and seemingly claimed by the creature, the Doctor uncovers a stranger, more benevolent truth behind the ship’s curse than anyone aboard suspected.
Interesting Facts
- Hugh Bonneville, fresh off “Downton Abbey,” guest stars as the real-life-inspired pirate Captain Henry Avery.
- The Siren is ultimately revealed to be an automated alien medical hologram, misinterpreted by the superstitious sailors as a supernatural killer.
- The story ends with the ship’s surviving crew, along with Avery’s son, sailing off into space aboard the alien vessel, a rare fully happy ending for a guest cast.
- Rory “dies” for the first of several times across the series, briefly heightening the stakes before his eventual rescue.
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